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A surge in unlawful mining has led to the destruction of one hundred forty thousand hectares of tropical forest in the Amazon region of Peru, intensifying as foreign, armed groups move into the region to capitalize on record gold prices, according to a report.

Roughly five hundred forty square miles of land have been converted for extraction activities in the South American country since 1984, and the ecological damage is expanding quickly across the country, investigations found.

The gold rush is also polluting its waterways. Unlawful extractors use dredges – machines that disrupt and displace riverbeds – leaving harmful mercury used to extract gold from soil in their wake.

Detailed satellite photographs allowed researchers to detect mining equipment alongside deforestation for the initial instance, showing that the ecological disaster once confined to the south of the country was creeping northward.

“We used to only see it in the Madre de Dios region but now we’re seeing it everywhere,” stated an official from the monitoring project.

The price of gold topped $4,000 for the initial occasion this period on global exchanges as worldwide concerns rose about economic instability. Indigenous groups have raised concerns that as the value climbs, militant factions were more frequently tearing down their forests and contaminating their rivers in pursuit of the precious metal.

Satellite photos show that once dense swathes of green jungle are being converted into lifeless moonscapes of barren soil marked by standing water of discolored water.

“This small section is just a tiny sample,” a researcher remarked, pointing to a limited area of the vast red patchwork of forest clearance documented in the study. “Imagine this expanded to one hundred forty thousand hectares.”

The mercury residues accumulate in aquatic life and pass to the people who eat them, leading to health and cognitive issues such as birth defects and learning difficulties.

An ongoing study of communities along riverbanks in Peru’s far north of Loreto found the median level of mercury was almost quadruple the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.

Research found that 225 rivers and streams have been affected, with 989 dredges observed in the region since recent years – including two hundred seventy-five this year alone on the Nanay River, a tributary of the Amazon that is the vital source of natural habitats and dozens of Indigenous communities.

“They are poisoning our rivers – it’s the water that we consume,” said a spokesperson of multiple local communities in Loreto.

Residents began preventing extractors from advancing up the River Tigre in Loreto 40 days ago, resulting in gunfights with armed intruders. “We are forced to defend ourselves but we are alone. The state is nowhere to be seen,” he stated frustrated.

Mining is mostly located in the southern area of Madre de Dios in the south of the country but new hotspots are appearing in northern regions in Loreto, Amazonas, Huánuco, Pasco and Ucayali.

These areas are limited but once mining is established it could expand quickly, an expert said, adding that the report was a glimpse into what was happening across the rest of the Amazon.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to look in this detail at a country but I think in neighboring countries we are going to see similar patterns,” he commented.

Findings showed more dredges being detected on Peru’s forest borders with Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia.

With gold prices surpassing $4,000 an ounce, foreign, armed groups are more frequently entering across the border into Peru’s lawless jungles where local authorities are taking minimal action to halt their activities, according to a criminologist.

Criminal networks, such as groups from neighboring countries, are increasingly active across the border.

“Global criminal syndicates involved in drug trade and laundering profits through unlawful extraction – now with peak prices providing hefty returns – are alongside a administration that has not been a serious obstacle against organised crime,” the expert stated.

An intergovernmental group of Latin American nations instructed Peru to address unlawful extraction or it could face economic sanctions.

But an expert said: “Gold is just so profitable at present. I don’t see any signs of a decline in value, so it’s likely going to deteriorate before it improves.”